World Water Day

This morning I was sitting with some friends at a café just overlooking the today tranquil turquoise water of the Mediterranean when one of my friends asked, “Who knows which day is today?” After a couple of seconds of silence, she laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I did not know either. I just heard it on the radio this morning. It is World Water Day.” We talk a little about it and that was that, Later on, at home I tried to find out more about it.
World Water Day has been celebrated since 1993. Since then and as the world water crisis has become one of the largest public health issues of our time, the observance has grown stronger. Here are just a few facts which might awake in some of you the need of being more careful with water:
-Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water. -The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. -Out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five. This problem is worst in developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Not an easy reading. And yet if everyone of us would do just a little, would develop an awareness of the importance of water instead of taking it for granted, we could help conserve this precious liquid. I am not going to tell you what to do. Just don’t waste it. It might take a few days but soon it would be a habit not to let the faucet run while we clean our teeth and similar things. And of course this year it is maybe to late, but get ready to take part in some of the many events that take place in this Water Day in many parts of the world from Seattle, to New York, to Berlin, Hungary, India, etc. Mark your calendar March 22 for next year and become a ‘Water Advocate’.
You can also go to www. replyforall.com and support ‘help provide clean water’ for free.